How do I fix Terminal after I upgraded Powershell in Windows 11?

The PowerShell 7 MSI installer installs the new pwsh.exe side‑by‑side and can change its install path. Windows Terminal profiles reference a specific command line (path or name). After the upgrade, the profile that previously launched PowerShell 7 is still pointing to the old pwsh.exe location, so Terminal can no longer start it.

To fix Terminal, update the profile that launches PowerShell 7 so it points to the correct command:

1. Open Windows Terminal.
2. Open Settings.
3. In Profiles, select the profile that used to start PowerShell 7 (often named PowerShell or similar, but distinct from Windows PowerShell).
4. Check the Command line field:
   • If it contains a full path to pwsh.exe that no longer exists, replace it with the correct path or simply pwsh.exe if pwsh is on PATH.
   • Save the changes.
5. Still in Settings → Startup, ensure the Default profile is set to this updated PowerShell 7 profile if that is the shell that should open by default.

If the PowerShell 7 profile is missing entirely, add it back:

1. In Windows Terminal Settings, scroll to the bottom of the profiles list and select + Add a new profile.
2. Set Command line to pwsh.exe (or the full path to the new pwsh.exe).
3. Name the profile (for example, PowerShell 7).
4. Save and optionally set it as the Default profile under Startup.

This rebinds Windows Terminal to the upgraded PowerShell 7.6.1 installation.

References:

• Windows Terminal FAQ
• Install and get started setting up Windows Terminal
• Chapter 1 - Getting started with PowerShell
• Migrating from Windows PowerShell 5.1 to PowerShell 7